University of Basel, Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051, Basel, Switzerland.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2024 Dec;161:105240. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2024.105240. Epub 2024 Aug 23.
« Prediction is very difficult, especially if it is about the future of comparative immunology" could one say to paraphrase Niels Bohr. Yet, if one avoids mistakes of the past and fashions, if one remains ready to welcome surprises an do not to get drowned in big data while profiting from new technologies, if one keeps common sense between expanding and restricting one's scope of investigation in front of the enormous diversity of the tree of life, comparative immunologists are going, in new areas of research and with new tools, to keep contributing enormously to immunology. They will reveal, with the eyes open to homologies and analogies among multiple species, more variations on the theme of immunity and will put the human immune system in perspective a necessary situation to face the questions that remain to be answered in order to improve health or to understand evolution of immune systems. There will always be room in comparative immunology for fundamental approaches to these subjects. A proper education, aimed at combining competences, will be essential to achieve these goals.
“预测是非常困难的，尤其是对于比较免疫学的未来预测”，人们或许可以用尼尔斯·玻尔（Niels Bohr）的话来加以概括。然而，如果我们能避免过去的错误和时尚，如果我们能随时准备迎接惊喜，在利用新技术的同时避免被大数据淹没，如果我们在面对生命之树的巨大多样性时，在扩大和限制研究范围之间保持常识，那么比较免疫学家将在新的研究领域和新的工具的帮助下，继续为免疫学做出巨大贡献。他们将以开放的心态看待多个物种之间的同源性和相似性，揭示出更多关于免疫主题的变化，并从多个角度看待人类免疫系统，这是面对仍需回答的问题的必要条件，这些问题旨在改善健康或理解免疫系统的进化。在比较免疫学中，对于这些主题的基础研究方法将始终有一席之地。适当的教育，旨在结合各种能力，将是实现这些目标的关键。
